Lvdwig

Review

Beethoven surfs the Danube wave

Photo: Katharina Gossow This is Beethoven's year, and yes, that also has a gastronomic impact. In the Ludwig Van restaurant, for example, which is located in one of the 68 houses in Vienna where the man from Bonn lived for a time, there is a menu four times a year with dishes that Beethoven also liked to eat. And the Hotel Beethoven next to the Theater an der Wien, where Ludwig van also stayed for a while, saw the Beethoven year as the perfect time to transform its somewhat oversized reception into a bar, not least thanks to an initiative by bar professional Paul Rittenauer. It bears the name Lvdwig, which was more or less inevitable because the owner and director of the hotel is called Barbara Ludwig. And it's also Beethoven's year, which wouldn't be particularly pulse-quickening if it weren't for a few decisive factors. Firstly, the wonderful Gregor Eichinger was responsible for the design, specifically for a long table - a piece of furniture that is otherwise rarely seen in a bar - a back wall made of movable gold plates that react to air movements, a ceiling with indirect lighting and, at the edge of the narrow room, a few grandiose seating areas with ludicrously small tables that are somewhat reminiscent of the ludicrously small tables in Café Teitelbaum in the Jewish Museum (which Gregor Eichinger also made). In any case, Lvdwig is a bar where there is no classic bar, i.e. no counter, no bar, here you sit opposite each other while drinking, not next to each other, which is remarkable. Then there is the woman behind the non-existent bar, who has been one of the best bartenders in the city for three years: Isabella Lombardo from Italy loves to work with ingredients that seem a little old-fashioned, and she also loves to give her cocktail creations interesting names. "Eroica" is a rather heavy piece of equipment, "Lombardo" uses the monastery liqueur Chartreuse and also a little gold dust, there is also a cocktail called "Häupl", but it was not possible to find out what it is made of on the day of the opening. And finally, there is the microphone. The Lvdwig bar has a good sound system, and because the Café Theater an der Wien with its legendary "Donauwelle" singing performances used to be right next door, it was decided that there should also be singing in the Lvdwig. However, only one or two numbers per performer and only after accreditation by a jury, which includes Elke Hesse, head of the Vienna Boys' Choir and also a school friend of Barbara Ludwig. It looks like it could be fun. To sum up: the Naschmarkt area has a lot going for it, but not yet a proper bar. It does now, it looks like it's from a yacht and there's singing too. Lvdwig, 6th, Papagenog. 6, tel. 01/58 74 48 20, Tue-Sat 4pm-1am,

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